Re: 10 Tips for New Dark Souls Players

Dark Souls II is out to critical acclaim, and sales are showing many new entrants to the series. The game has a reputation for harshness and punishment that may turn off many, so here are 10 Tips to get you started.

1. Prepare to Learn.

Marketing aside, this game is not about death as much as it is about learning. Make mistakes, suffer the consequences, and learn not to make them again! Approach the game cautiously and aware there's a lot at stake with each of your deaths, and you'll see your caution pay off.

2. Pick the right class.

All classes are viable, but a new player will find more leeway with a Knight, that comes equipped with a shield, a broadsword and a decent amount of health. You will have to melee lots and cannot "cheap range" enemies, but at the same time as long as you keep your shield up, and allow for strategic stamina recovery, you'll do well!

3. Find the Emerald Herald in Majula. Talk to her lots!

As soon as you get to Majula, you'll want to find this NPC and talk to her until she gives you your Estus Flask. This is a portable and replenishable healing item. It can be upgraded too! Find a well in Majula and hit the rock in it, an Estus Flask Shard will appear for you to bring to the Emerald Herald and increase your Estus Flask count to 2.

She will also level your character up!

4. Bonfires are for resting. Use them!

Whenever you find a bonfire, resting at it will repair all of your equipment and replenish your estus flask. It is common for players to bypass the bonfires and end up with useless broken equipment. If this happens, you'll have to find the merchant in the Forest of Fallen Giants (Old Hag Melentia) and buy the Blacksmith's key from her for 1000 souls before you can even have a chance to repair your equipment! - You can also light torches at the bonfire by pressing triangle.

5. Talk to every NPC. Listen to them. Exhaust dialogue.

In-game mechanics are explained by NPCs. They also give you hints, tips and directions. And they will move places and trigger events or gift you items when their location dialogue tree is exhausted. Always talk to all NPCs, always keep going until they start repeating the same line, and do not attack or kill them unless you are absolutely certain you won't be needing them ever again.

6. Don't get greedy

Enemies look sluggish and dumb compared to other games. Do not let this fool you! The game will try to lull you into false confidence and then ambush you to death. Divide and conquer, always wait for enemy attacks to be finished before countering, and NEVER give your back to any enemy!

7. It's dangerous to go alone: Summon help. Be summoned as help

The online experience of Dark Souls II is its most enjoyable aspect. Online play requires that you acquire a White Soapstone, which is available from Mild-Mannered Pate in the Forest of Fallen giants, or that you are in your "human" form. If you are human, you will see bright signs on the ground to summon to aid you. If you are dead, you can use your stone to write a white sign on the ground and help others!

8. Explore everywhere. There are hidden walls! There are mimics and breakable chests!

The game hides important and effective items in every nook and cranny. Seek everything out and always hit every chest you find ONCE to determine if it's a mimic. If you destroy a chest you destroy its loot, so careful! You will also find hidden walls that require you to press X at the right location (without a prompt on screen) to open up. Let the mashing begin! - And do not forget to explore every area thoroughly for chests and items under elevators, staircases, or locked away behind covenants

9. Do not give up. No tactic is cheap. Survival is everything.

You have a sliver of health and there are four enemies around you! Do not give up! Do everythign you can, kite, run, make a moment for a healing stone... you can still win! And if you don't, you will learn about enemy pathing mechanics and how they follow you or don't. You will discover many enemies fall off ledges to their death, and that you can kite and crossbow them from safe distances! What you lose in souls you will gain in experience, and that is the real name of the game!

10. Wiki it.

Of all the tips, this is probably the most important one. Dark Souls is a game built to be explored and detailed as a community. There's hundreds of thousands of players making edits, adding info, participating on the chat and collaborating to help each other and the common body of knowledge for everyone. You beat a boss and have its soul and you could waste it and consume it, or you could visit the wiki and find out the epic weapons you could craft and how. Whatever your question is, there's a high likelihood the answer is right here: http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/

Re: 10 Tips for New Dark Souls Players

Dark Souls II is out to critical acclaim, and sales are showing many new entrants to the series. The game has a reputation for harshness and punishment that may turn off many, so here are 10 Tips to get you started.

1. Prepare to Learn.

Marketing aside, this game is not about death as much as it is about learning. Make mistakes, suffer the consequences, and learn not to make them again! Approach the game cautiously and aware there's a lot at stake with each of your deaths, and you'll see your caution pay off.

2. Pick the right class.

All classes are viable, but a new player will find more leeway with a Knight, that comes equipped with a shield, a broadsword and a decent amount of health. You will have to melee lots and cannot "cheap range" enemies, but at the same time as long as you keep your shield up, and allow for strategic stamina recovery, you'll do well!

3. Find the Emerald Herald in Majula. Talk to her lots!

As soon as you get to Majula, you'll want to find this NPC and talk to her until she gives you your Estus Flask. This is a portable and replenishable healing item. It can be upgraded too! Find a well in Majula and hit the rock in it, an Estus Flask Shard will appear for you to bring to the Emerald Herald and increase your Estus Flask count to 2.

She will also level your character up!

4. Bonfires are for resting. Use them!

Whenever you find a bonfire, resting at it will repair all of your equipment and replenish your estus flask. It is common for players to bypass the bonfires and end up with useless broken equipment. If this happens, you'll have to find the merchant in the Forest of Fallen Giants (Old Hag Melentia) and buy the Blacksmith's key from her for 1000 souls before you can even have a chance to repair your equipment! - You can also light torches at the bonfire by pressing triangle.

5. Talk to every NPC. Listen to them. Exhaust dialogue.

In-game mechanics are explained by NPCs. They also give you hints, tips and directions. And they will move places and trigger events or gift you items when their location dialogue tree is exhausted. Always talk to all NPCs, always keep going until they start repeating the same line, and do not attack or kill them unless you are absolutely certain you won't be needing them ever again.

6. Don't get greedy

Enemies look sluggish and dumb compared to other games. Do not let this fool you! The game will try to lull you into false confidence and then ambush you to death. Divide and conquer, always wait for enemy attacks to be finished before countering, and NEVER give your back to any enemy!

7. It's dangerous to go alone: Summon help. Be summoned as help

The online experience of Dark Souls II is its most enjoyable aspect. Online play requires that you acquire a White Soapstone, which is available from Mild-Mannered Pate in the Forest of Fallen giants, or that you are in your "human" form. If you are human, you will see bright signs on the ground to summon to aid you. If you are dead, you can use your stone to write a white sign on the ground and help others!

8. Explore everywhere. There are hidden walls! There are mimics and breakable chests!

The game hides important and effective items in every nook and cranny. Seek everything out and always hit every chest you find ONCE to determine if it's a mimic. If you destroy a chest you destroy its loot, so careful! You will also find hidden walls that require you to press X at the right location (without a prompt on screen) to open up. Let the mashing begin! - And do not forget to explore every area thoroughly for chests and items under elevators, staircases, or locked away behind covenants

9. Do not give up. No tactic is cheap. Survival is everything.

You have a sliver of health and there are four enemies around you! Do not give up! Do everythign you can, kite, run, make a moment for a healing stone... you can still win! And if you don't, you will learn about enemy pathing mechanics and how they follow you or don't. You will discover many enemies fall off ledges to their death, and that you can kite and crossbow them from safe distances! What you lose in souls you will gain in experience, and that is the real name of the game!

10. Wiki it.

Of all the tips, this is probably the most important one. Dark Souls is a game built to be explored and detailed as a community. There's hundreds of thousands of players making edits, adding info, participating on the chat and collaborating to help each other and the common body of knowledge for everyone. You beat a boss and have its soul and you could waste it and consume it, or you could visit the wiki and find out the epic weapons you could craft and how. Whatever your question is, there's a high likelihood the answer is right here: http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/

Re: 10 Tips for New Dark Souls Players

“Do you know what punishments I've endured for my crimes, my sins? None. I am proof of the absurdity of men's most treasured abstractions. A just universe wouldn't tolerate my existence.”― Brent Weeks, The Way of Shadows